Auto door lock



March 17, 1953 HSIANG JU LIN 2,631,876

AUTO DOOR LOCK Filed May 5, 1950 20 IN VEN TOR.

Hs/mva J0 L/A/ BY [0L WW Ku WM HER ATTORNEYS.

Patented Mar. 17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AUTO DOOR LOCK HsiangJ u Lin, Cannes, France Application May 3, 1950, Serial No. 159,828

3 Claims. (01. 29251) This invention relates to systems for lockingsimultaneously all of the doors of a multiple door vehicle and itrelates particularly to a looking system whereby all the doors of anautomo- -bile may be locked and unlocked by means of a single exteriorlocking handle.

In accordance with the present invention, I have provided a simplifiedlocking system including movable bolts for locking and releasing each ofthe doors of the vehicle, these bolts being projected and retracted bymeans of suitable actuating members mounted for movement in the pillarsof the vehicle body adjacent to the free edges of the doors. The severalactuating members for the bolts are interconnected V by means of aclosed hydraulic system including hydraulic cylinders or jacks which arearranged so that movement of one of the pistons of a jack will cause allof the other pistons to move simultaneously thereby actuating all of thebolts at the same time to lock or unlock the doors.

In order to provide a simple and rugged system which can be operatedwith a minimum of thought, the pistons are so arranged that outwardmovement of one of the pistons will actuate one or more bolts, whileinward movement of the piston or pistons at the opposite end of thesystem will operate the locking bolts at the other endof the system.This arrangement of the cylinders or jacks is especially desirable in-;asmuchas it permits the operating handles which are connected with thepistons and exposed at the exterior and the interior of the vehicle tomove in the same direction for locking and unlocking the doors.

7 Through the use of hydraulic connections between sturdy operatingcylinders, a foolproof mechanism is provided, which is not readilysusceptible to damage and which is operable independently of othermechanisms of the vehicle.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic layout of typical locking system embodying thepresent invention, parts thereof being shown in section and exaggeratedin size to disclose details of construction; 7

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation and partly .in section of the devicetaken on lines 2-2 of Fig. I;

T Fig. 3 is a view in elevation and partly in section looking in thedirection of the arrows 3-3 of Fig. 1; and

E 5. 4 is a view of h ope ati h nd e 1 inner ends of the bolts l5 andi6.

ing in the direction of the arrows 44 of Fig. '1.

The invention will be described with reference to its use in a vehicleof the type having four doors. In this vehicle, the doors on both sidesof the vehicle are hinged at their opposite vertical edges so that theirfree edges are adjacent a central pillar; that is, the front door on oneside of the vehicle opens at its rear end while the back door on thesame side of the vehicle opens at its front end. The invention is,however, equally applicable to vehicle door arrangements in which bothof the doors are hinged at their rear edges or their front edges, as isthe case in some body styles.

Referring now to the drawings, the vehicle body includes the centralpillar ID on the lefthand side of the car and the pillar II on theright-hand side of the car which lead into and form a support for thetop or roof l2 of the vehicle. The pillar and top construction isconventional, does not form a part of the invention and therefore is notillustrated in detail. As shown in Fig. 2, the pillar It] forms adividing section between the front door 13 and the rear door 14, both ofwhich are hinged to the body at their outer ends so that their innerfree ends. l3a and Ma substantially abut the sides of the pillar Iliwhen the doors are closed.

The doors may, of course, be provided with conventional locks and doorhandles. Both of the doors l3 and I4 further may be locked 'to thepillar by means of the pivoted bolts 01' latches I5 and I6 which aresupported for rock'- ing movement on the pivot pins l1 and I8. The outerend's'of the bolts l5 and 16 are normally disposed within the sideflanges Illa and 10b of the pillar [0 but can be projected into slots orrecesses l9 and 2B in the abutting faces of the doors I3 and [4 byrocking their inner ends downwardly. The bolts l5 and I6 are normallyretracted by means of coil springs 2| and 22, re-

spectively, anchored at one end to the interior of the pillar and at theopposite end to the Other types of springs or. their equivalent may besubstituted for the springs 2| and 22, of course.

The bolts 15 and it have semi-circular notches 23 and 24 in their innerends for engagement with an actuating pin 25 which projects ,outwardlyfrom a rack member 26. The rack member 26 is guided in a bearing orbushing 21. which is fixed to the interior of the pillar in anysuitableway so that the rack member can recipro; cate axially. The pin 25engages inner ends of the bolts and is received in the notches l3 and 72 91, d nward yiqvsinen and t er b iQfifi the outer ends of the boltmembers into the slots I9 and 20 to lock the doors to the pillar. Upwardmovement of the rack member 26 in conjunction with the springs 2| and 22rocks the inner ends of the bolts 23 and 24 upwardly so that the outerends of the bolts are withdrawn from the slots l9 and 20 to releasedoors [3 and M from the pillar ID.

The pillar H at the opposite side of the vehicle also carries a similarpair of bolt members 29 and 30 which cooperate with the front and reardoors 3! and 32 in the same way as the bolts 23 and 24 cooperate withthe doors l3 and M. The bolts 29 and 30 are actuated by means of a pin33 which is mounted on the end of and projects outwardly from the pistonrod 35 which is fixed to a piston member 35 reciprocable in a hy'-draulic cylinder 33. The cylinder 33 is fixedly supported in the pillarH by means of a ring clamp 31 or other suitable support rigidlyconnected to the pillar ll.

The upper end of the cylinder 33 is connected by means of a conduit 38to the upper end of another similar cylmder 33in the pillar Ii]. Thecylinder 39 also has a piston to therein. A piston rod 4| is connectedto the piston dB and projects from the lower end of the cylinder 39. Thelower end of the piston rod 4! is in the form of a rack. -42. The rack42 is connected with the member 26 by means of an idler pinion 43mounted rotatably on a shaft or pin dd extending transversely of thepillar It and supported therein.

The pistons 35 and 40 are so positioned in their respective cylindersthat when the piston '40 is in its lowest position, piston 35 is in itsupper position. Therefore, when the piston '48 is retreated by downwardmovement of the rack member 126 to project the bolts 23 and 24, thepiston rod 3-4 is projected so that the pin 33 thereon will engageandproject the bolts 29 and ,30 to lock the doors 3| and 32. 'In thisway, movement of either of the piston rods 34 and M will cause movementof the other piston rod to either look all the doors simultaneously orunlock them simultaneously.

-.To facilitate operation of the locking system, the rack member '26 isprovided with a handle member 45 which is exposed on the outside of thepillar *ll through a slot 43 to permit up and down movement of thehandle. If desired, the piston rod 34 may also have an inwardlyextending handle 4'! which permits operation of the bolts from theinterior of the car.

It will be understood that the locking handle 45 has a conventional keylock or its equivalent so that it can be locked in the closed positionto prevent entry of the car. Any conventional key lock may be used forthis purpose.

The system, while described above with ref memo to the use of two pairsof bolts actuated by two cylinders, is equally well adapted for use withvehicle doors which do not have their free edges adjacent to a commonpillar. In this arrangement, it is only necessary to provide separatecylinders like the cylinder 36 for three of the doors while a singlemaster cylinder 39 is used for the fourth door. The three auxiliarycylinders will, of course, individually have a smaller liquid capacitythan the master cylinder '39 sothat all of the piston rods can move asufiicient distance tooperate the bolts. 7 p Also; while pivoted boltshavebeendisclosed "inthe system, it will be understood that re- 7ciprocabl-e'bo1ts may be used equally well. These Number bolts may beactuated by suitable tapered cams or wedges on the ends of the rackmember 26 and the piston rod 34 to project and retract the bolts.

Accordingly, it will be understood that the above-described embodimentis illustrative and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of thefollowing claims.

I claim:

1. A system for locking simultaneously pairs of vehicle doors, each pairhaving free edges adjacent to a common body pillar, comprising a pair ofbolts pivotally mounted in each pillar and having adjacent inner notchedends and outer endskmovable into and out of locking engagement with thefree edges of the doors adjacent to said pillar, a rack mounted in oneof said pillars for reciprocation toward and away from said bolts, a pinon said rack engageable in said notches to move said bolts, a cylindermounted in said one pillar, a piston reciproca-ble insaid cylinder, apiston rod comprising a rack portion fixed to said piston, an idlerpinion mounted in said one pillar and connectingsaidrack and rackportion forreciprocation in opposite directions, a cylinder and pistonin the other pillar, a pin fixed to said piston formoving the bolts insaid other pillar and a conduit connecting said cylinders to formtherewith a closed hydraulic system for transmitting movement of one of.said pistons to the other. a

2. The system set forth in claim 1 comprising a handle fixed to saidrack and accessible from the exterior of said one pillar forreciprocating said rack. V

3. A system for locking. simultaneously all of the doors of a multipledoor vehicle, comprising a locking bolt for each door pivotally mountedin a portion of said. vehicle adjacent to a free edge of each door, eachbolt having an outer end part pivotally movable into engagement with aportion of its associated door. to retain it against opening movement,and out of engagement with said portion to release said door, the. innerend ofv each bolt having a notch therein, actuating members mounted forreciprocation adjacent to the inner ends of said bolts and havingportions 'engageable with and 'disengageable from the notch in theassociated bolt, a piston connected to each actuating member formovement with the latter, a cylinder receiving each piston, at least oneconduit connecting said cylinders to form therewith a closed hydraulicsystem to transmit movement of one piston to another piston, a rackhaving a handle'thereon accessible from the exterior of said vehicle formoving the HSIAN G J U LIN.-

REFERENCES orr o The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date 819,208 Criqui May ,1, 1906 1,947,761Duquaine Feb. 20", v1934 1,995,889 Landry Mar. 2a, 1935 2,077,135 WalkerApr. is, 1937 2,219,132 Hohmann et a1. Oct. 22; 1940 2 2605326 Marine -lGot. 28. 1 941

